A couple of weeks back, a combat patrol from FOB Gabe came into a tea café in Baquba. The Iraqis were surprised, and several American soldiers reported seeing the Iraqis "swallowing their weed."

"What do you mean they were swallowing their weed?" asked a soldier over breakfast.

"You know, they were just swallowing their weed."

"I don't understand what you're saying, 'swallowing their weed,' what are you talking about?" Where's this guy come from, I thought.

Next morning, on a different base, over breakfast, a couple of the soldiers who had been at the tea shop revisited the story. They swore they smelled marijuana and saw people swallowing joints in a café in Baquba.

"I had no idea they smoke dope here," someone said.

"They were smoking it," answered one of the soldiers.

"I've seen them drunk as a fish," I said, "and they smoke a lot of hash."

"Muslims don't drink," said another soldier.

"People in Baquba do," I said, "all the time. I saw 1st ID guys pull drunks over many times. We found two well-dressed men parked in a car. It was about midnight. One of the men said he wanted to get drunk before going home to his wife."

The soldier didn't believe me, so he asked a translator who was sitting with us, "Do they drink here?"

"Are you kidding man!" (He actually said "man.") "Dey drink so much!"

[Please click the title for video of Iraqi authorities smoking dope.]

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